Adoration Christian Centre - Part Two

Randy Lodder, director of Adoration Christian Centre (ACC) asked me if I would be willing to lead a workshop for the kindergarten and special education teachers on ‘Hands-On Learning”.  He told me that the workshop would begin at 10:00.  When I arrived at 9:45, Randy told me that they were running late.  It is normal for things to start later than advertised in Haiti.  I was thankful to arrive early and have them running late because it gave me the opportunity to hear Randy give his teachers a ‘pep’ talk reminding them of the vision and mission of the school.  Their mission statement is clearly written on the wall when you enter the school.

“Prepare and equip students to have an impact on their community and the world for the glory of Jesus Christ.” 

 In a recent newsletter, Randy expanded on this mission by saying “At its core our mission is to proclaim Christ, focusing on providing Christ-centered education that will equip, train, build up, encourage, and develop the community in which we are serving; helping and strengthening families who are in poverty and are “at risk”, meaning they are living in some very harsh conditions.” That day, he reminded the teachers of the difficulties their students are facing which block their path to effective learning.  He challenged the teachers by suggesting that if they were all doing their job well, they would equip their students to serve Jesus Christ by serving others as they become leaders in their community.  Their education will help them achieve this goal.  To help them understand their students better, he explained that many of their students come from difficult situations as they are trying to reach the poorest of the poor.  Then Randy asked the principal of each section in the school to give an example of one (or more) of their students to help the teachers better understand the community that they are serving. 

Ketia (Special Education and Kindergarten Principal)

Ketia shared with us that some of her students would not be accepted into other schools because they don’t have the means to get shoes, uniforms or basic school supplies.  She spoke passionately that these are the students that Adoration Christian Centre wants to help.  She suggested that her teachers are able to give more than what they would receive at a local government school because they try to share the love of Christ with each one.  She stressed the importance of loving each child and being sensitive and understanding knowing that so many of them have difficult lives.

Alix (Primary School Principal – Grades 1-6)

Alix shared that one of the main objectives of this school is to help families who are in great need.  He gave an example of a family with 13 kids.  Adoration Christian Centre has a policy that they can only accept two kids per family with a goal of reaching and giving hope to as many families as possible.  This family lived across the street from the school in the ‘tent city’ since the earthquake in January, 2010, but was recently displaced due to the government coming in and telling everyone they needed to move in order to build a new hotel on this land.  The school helped this family build a house in the place where they were ‘moved’.  It would take hours for these children to walk to school and the cost of a tap tap (public transportation) would be prohibitive.  For now, ACC is paying for their transportation, however, there are others in the same situation and eventually, ACC will no longer be able to provide transportation.  There are many students who were moved and are at risk of continuing their education at ACC.  Alix told teachers to show compassion and understanding to these students when their homework is not complete as they are likely exhausted by the time they get home and might not eat again until the next day when they receive lunch at school.  He reminded teachers that children don’t learn well when they are hungry.

Evenz (High School Principal – Grades 7-10)

Evenz shared a story about a student in Grade 12 who is currently at the ‘off-site’ location. This student asked if he would be able to go to afternoon school instead of morning school.  (Some schools offer two sessions so that more students will have the opportunity to go to school.)  Evenz thought that it was an odd request as most students desire to go to school in the morning as it is believed to be when the higher quality of education occurs.  Evenz probed the student and discovered that he lives in a tent very far from the school with his mom and aunt, both of whom do not work.  His dad is not in the picture.  If he can go to school in the afternoon, he has the opportunity to make 35 HTG (equivalent to $0.80 USD) which would help buy a few supplies or food so that he has enough energy to learn.  Although ACC paid for him to get to school, he often opted to walk for one and a half hours so that he could use his tap tap money for food.  He is determined to get his education no matter how high the personal cost so that he can get a job and help his family. 

When the principals were finished sharing, Randy continued by giving a portrait of what he hopes their students will look like upon graduation.  His desire is that they will be able to support themselves with a job, serve their community, become active members in their churches and above all have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  He hopes that they will excel in school and earn a Grade 13 education.

The task is daunting and would be impossible except that God is using an incredible staff of Haitians here and a host of supporters in North America!  I am thankful for the small roles that Erin and I can play while we are here this year.  Erin is teaching Art two days each week to all of the students together with a few others, we are both involved in developing Art Curriculum for the school.  I have also been involved in leading or helping with teacher training.

As mentioned earlier, I presented a workshop that day for the kindergarten and special education teachers on ‘Hands-On Learning’, but in the end I felt like I was the one who learned the most.  

We are able to do this because of the financial support and prayer of many of you. If you would like to learn more about this school or consider sponsoring a child yourself, check out www.adoration.net. 

Adoration Christian Centre - Part One

Adoration Christian Centre is a school that was founded and currently directed by our new friends, Randy and Karen Lodder (a couple from Southern Ontario) who are supported by the Canadian Reformed organization, “Word and Deed”.  They started this Christian School seven years ago for Haitian children who are taught by Haitian teachers.  The school has grown to nearly 300 students from pre-kindergarten to Grade 10 with students in Grades 11-13 going to school off-site.  Listening to Randy talk about the joys and challenges of the school over the past few months has been both disheartening and inspiring.

 

On our first visit to the school in September, Randy shared with us that parents need to go through a long application process because so many people want to send their kids to this school.  Adoration Christian Centre, in an effort to affect as many families as possible, has a policy of accepting a maximum of two children from any given family.  Their first priority is to Christian families with hopes to strengthen Christian leaders to make a difference in their communities.  The children who attend are on a sponsorship program through generous donors in North America who provide $38 per month, similar to how World Vision or Compassion International works.   For some families, the fee is very difficult to pay.  The school provides the t-shirt part of the school uniform.  Adoration Christian Centre’s vision is to help these kids who are in especially difficult situations. 

Until this year, many of the families lived in a ‘tent city’ across the road from the school.  After the earthquake, many tent cities were erected around the city and some have remained until this year.  Recently, the government moved everyone off the land because they plan to build a hotel in that space.  Many of the families moved far from the school to a place named Canaan because that is the only place they can afford to live.  Although you may recognize the name Canaan from the Bible, believe me, it is not a land flowing with milk and honey as the name suggests.  Many of these families do not have the resources to get their children to school now and some have stopped coming to school. 

It was lunch time when we arrived so we were able to witness lunch being served to all of the students.  Until this year, they also provided breakfast since many children come to school hungry, however the funds are no longer available to provide a breakfast program.  For some kids, this is their only meal of the day which usually consists of rice and beans (diri ak pwa).

   

The original school building came down in the earthquake (and by the grace of God, no one was in the building at the time as students and staff who were still at school were all outside watching a basketball game).  The school is currently housed in a former construction company office building with rooms that are rather small.  The average class size is 25.  The kindergarten room was maybe 12'x12' max with 18 students and I felt overwhelmed thinking about my large kindergarten classroom in Drayton with all of its space and supplies and saw these children who need to sit at their table all day because there is hardly enough room to get up and move around.  Randy’s hopes and dreams are that they could buy a piece of land and build a new school as they are currently renting this space.  It would include larger classrooms.  Having said that, if there were larger rooms, the Haitian community there would suggest that the school could hold lots more kids and there might not be a solution to the crowded classrooms. 

    

Adoration Christian Centre has three classes for children with special needs demonstrating beautifully that ALL children are unique, special and created in the image of God.  Special needs classes are rare in Haiti. 

Although it was very difficult to see and hear about the poverty that many of the students are experiencing, I was encouraged that these children have been given the opportunity to receive an education.  Most of the students would not be able to go to a local government school because they would not have the necessary funds to pay for the basics –uniforms, supplies and transportation.  By the fourth grade, students are learning in French only (which is the language of the educated) and will help provide more opportunities for them in the future than if they only speak Creole.  Their education will help provide them with skills that will enable them to provide for their families and make a difference in their communities.  My utmost respect goes to Randy and Karen for their vision and perseverance to help children who can in turn help their families makes a difference in their communities.   

Visitors!

Since we are only here for one year, I am constantly aware that much of what we are learning is not so that we can cope or flourish long term in Haiti but so that we can share with the rest of the "normal-people-world" (non-missionaries) (all tongue-in-cheek).  My hope in sharing is that all of us who read these posts can be better equipped to be encouragers and advocates of global missions and those who serve away from home.  When you live over 3000 kilometres from home, having visitors is a huge deal.  Over the past two weeks, we have been privileged to have three visits from family or friends close enough to call family.  I'd like to share what that was like so that you can get a sense of how encouraging it is for missionaries to be remembered in ways that are personal and life-giving.

My younger brother Stephen is a lawyer in Boston.  He and his wife Neda, a real estate broker, and their delightful daughter, Serena, have been great personal encouragers.  Though their beliefs would make supporting our agency, CRWM ingenuine and therefore they cannot, they have gone out of their way to communicate their cheerleading posture to us as people.  About a month ago, in the midst of a very hectic time of purchasing a new home, Stephen booked a flight to come and visit us for the weekend preceding my birthday: November 7-10.

In preparation for his trip to us, Stephen started asking what sorts of things he could bring and kept on pressing for more and more and more and more.  And more.  We had some things we needed (mostly particular items we couldn't find here) that we ordered from Amazon to be shipped to his house, but most of what he took was the result of his and Neda's driving around Boston and picking up as many items as Stephen could fit into his three checked bags!  When he arrived with one very large suitcase, two large duffels, a carry-on, and a back-pack, let's just say he didn't look like a tourist on a three-day trip.  When he got to our home, it was like a Festivus celebration (Seinfeld reference), with the unpacking of flip flops, soccer balls, light duvets, pillows, candy, cheese,  and articles of clothing for each of us.  The biggest item he packed was a 32" television -- which apparently, you can put in your checked luggage!

Picking up Stephen and his five bags of luggage at the airport

It was great to be able to show Stephen around the city.  A month before he came he had done some volunteering in Boston, packaging medical equipment for a hospital here in Port-au-Prince, St. Francois de Sales.  In addition to seeing the hospital, we toured downtown Port-au-Prince, viewed the city from the mountain top to the south, and toured the many places we spend our time here:  our boys' school where we played a game of 2-on-2 soccer, my office, the schools the girls are volunteering at, and some souvenir shops.  When we brought him back to the airport on Monday the 10th, we were all sad to see him go, but even more glad that he had come.

That same week, on Thursday the 13th, although Erin didn't know it, she had a visitor en route to see her.   A month earlier, Kelsey DeGier, made a plan to come and surprise Erin with a weekend visit.  She landed Thursday at 2:00 while Erin was teaching at Adoration Christian School just a few blocks from the airport. After Carol, Meghan, and I picked up Kelsey, we went to Erin's school where Carol pulled Erin out of class.  Though we had a camera malfunction and didn't quite capture "the moment" of Erin's surprise, it was imprinted in our memories as a startlingly good gift.  Kelsey had not been to a developing country before and was wide-eyed as we drove down rutted roads past garbage piles, goats, stray dogs, women balancing baskets over their heads, uniformed school children, armed guards, barbed wire, and tropical plants.  When we dropped her off on Monday for her flight home we asked her what her impression of Haiti was.  His answer was one word:  crazy.  And in saying so, reminded us that we weren't crazy for often feeling the same thing.

Erin delighted by the Surprise of Kelsey's Presence!

The day after Kelsey arrived, we received a visit from Carol's uncle and aunt, Harv and Diane Geerlinks, who are still with us.  Diane is with NILD (National Institute of Learning Disabilities) and has come to lead some talks and workshops with Carol at the ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) Conference being held just outside of Port-au-Prince.  Harv and Diane are unique in that their children have served in missions in many places:  India, Philippines, Vancouver, Kenya, Rwanda, and likely more, and this perspective has helped them engage us as close friends in helpful conversations about our adjustment here.

Harv and his helper, Franklin, trying out the playground equipment they repaired together with the parts Kelsey's dad Wes DeGier sent with her.  

In just a few days, this season of 'visitors' will be over and we will be back down to the six of us working our way through the adjustments of life in Haiti.  We will continue to need the prayers and encouragements of so many of you who are supporting us, but we will also have been helped in a significant way by our visitors:  Stephen, Kelsey, Harv & Diane.

It's funny.  When we arrived in Haiti one of my colleagues said to me with sincerity, "thank you for coming, it means a lot."  At the time I didn't get what she was saying and thought she was just being nice, but now I get it.  Visiting your missionaries -- even if you don't do any 'work' like laying block or painting walls -- is a mission of its own.  Showing an interest in their work, asking questions, learning, listening, taking pictures, and packing your suitcases with things they might need (Kelsey brought chocolate and some parts to fix a playground at Adoration School) are all great things to do and a way of coming alongside your missionaries.

As an organization here in Haiti -- Sous Espwa -- we encourage teams to come.  Some of those teams - Service and Learning Teams - come and build, providing the funding and the encouragement of working alongside Haitians to help create infrastructure such as the leadership training center which our friends Clare and Sandy Streutker will be overseeing the construction of in January and February.  These gifts are an invaluable blessing that will reap benefits for years to come.  Some teams though - Look, Learn, Listen Teams - come simply to learn, to show a genuine curiosity about the challenge of mission in Haiti, asking questions, and simply visiting.  They are not tourists, but interested advocates, and they might not have a trowel or paint brush in their hands, but they are providing a meaningful service.  They are showing, just by showing up, that they care.

Thanks for visiting.  

Give Me a Foot

Haitians love acronyms.  Nearly every ministry we work with is referred to by its acronym.  My first few weeks here I was learning all sorts of acronyms:  ECRH, STRH, ITRH, CRECH, MDK, SKDE, PWOFOD, UEBH, and PRIHA.  Each of those nine acronyms is connected with a series of people, ministries, and incredible stories of what God is doing.

One ministry - MDK - is of particular interest to me as they focus on leadership development which is the subject of the Doctorate of Ministry Degree I have been pursuing at Tyndale Seminary in Toronto for the last few years.  Our role here in Haiti with MDK is to encourage, evaluate and otherwise support them as they do their work.  MDK stands for Ministry Devlopment Kretienne and it is run by an incredible team of hardworking people led by their Executive Director, Lemet Zafir.

Lemet reminds me of my friend Andrew Beunk, pastor at New Westminster Church in British Columbia.  Patient, wise, hard-working, and a team leader, Lemet is also a man of prayer who expects the Spirit to be at work and expects results from ministry.  These qualities of Lemet and of the whole team he leads have shaped MDK to be a ministry that is having tangible effects in many places.

On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti, toppling 100's of 1000's of buildings and taking at least as many lives, people being crushed beneath the weight of poorly constructed walls, roofs, and upper floors.  Those who did not die were left traumatized, many because they had been partially crushed.  As aid workers and doctors rushed to the scenes, some 4000 lives were spared by emergency amputation surgeries.  It is incredible to even begin to think about what those early days after the earthquake must have been like.  Carol's cousin's husband, Dr. Rob Yelle, was on the scene within days and has shared stories about the work that he and many other foreign medical staff did.

In the wake of all of these amputations, leaders trained by MDK saw a need:  prosthetics, crutches, canes, wheelchairs, and financial support for education for children of amputees.  Nearly right after the earthquake, they began a ministry called "Give Me a Foot" abandoning the acronyms and getting right down to business.  Within days, they were gathering supplies which were overwhelming the country as eager donors from around the globe acted out their desires to "do something" by having church drives and sending crutches to Haiti.  Our own congregation in Cambridge did such a thing and the crutches in our basement were all sent.

Bringing the supplies is one thing.  Building and supporting particular people is another.  For the past 4-1/2 years, "Give Me a Foot" has supported countless people, hand in hand with sharing the words of the Gospel, they were acting out the Gospel as leaders should, doing whatever they did for one of the least of these for Jesus himself.

Last Friday, I had the privilege of meeting five beneficiaries of the program.  For the sake of their dignity and privacy,  I am not including pictures and names, but I can share some things generally.  The five of them came into our meeting room and sat down.  There were three women, a boy, and a man.  The man had a cane; the boy seemed to have nothing wrong as did two of the women.  The last woman had one arm missing at the elbow, the other at the wrist.

These five had two things in common:  First, they were beneficiaries of the "Give Me a Foot" program; and Second, amazingly, these five had a facial countenance I can only describe as 'hope-filled.'  While many residents of Haiti, due to generations of struggle and too much loss, have a blank look on their faces, these five had deep and joyful eyes.  Though I noticed the man's cane and the one woman's amputated arms, I struggled to understand why the others were beneficiaries.

The boy, I soon learned, was the son of the woman without hands.  "Give Me a Foot" was helping them as a family afford to send him to school.  As I watched him feed his mother her lunch, a sandwich, I wondered about all the things his young mind had learned in the past five years and what other tasks had become his.  The man with the crutch revealed a prosthetic leg after some discussion, with a joyful twinkle in his seasoned eyes while he talked about the way that "Give Me a Foot" had blessed him.

This left the other two ladies.  One began to inch her long skirt a few inches above the floor, revealing at first a pair of matching shoes, and then, her left, a prosthetic leg that went all the way above the knee.  She talked laughingly about the way "Give Me a Foot" had come alongside her, how she was now one of the leaders of the "Give Me a Foot" team, and how her life had been transformed.  Finally, the last lady spoke, shyly revealing that she too had lost a hand, but eventually gesturing with it and her good hand about the work of this fine Christian leadership development ministry that had spawned "Give Me a Foot" when the need was there.

As I drove away from the meeting, I thought about my Doctoral Thesis I am thinking through for the writing that will resume when we return from Haiti.  I thought about the quality of 'readiness' that MDK had bred into their leaders who were ready when the earthquake rocked their world to respond with action and faith rather than despair and fear.  Going forward as God calls me to build other leaders, that quality will be one I will work for.

When the earthquake happened in 2010, a lot of people asked, "Where was God?"  I don't have a neat and tidy answer to that question, in fact, I may just ask him one day how his love allowed him to restrain his power and not stop the quake altogether.  But in the aftermath of the quake, thanks to my meeting with the "Give Me a Foot" folks, I do know one place God was.  Ephesians 2:10 says "We are God's handiwork created, in Christ, to do good which God prepared in advance for us to do." Where was God during the earthquake?  One place, in the people of MDK, getting people ready for a godly response to an ungodly horror.  

I've never heard of Sous Espwa

Sous Espwa.  It's Creole for "Source of Hope."  It's also the name which the combined ministries of Back to God Ministries, World Renew, and Christian Reformed World Missions in Haiti.  It's a name that I have begun to identify with.  It is the team I work with, the way I introduce myself in Haiti, and so though it is two words, it is beginning to be packed with meaning.   So you can imagine my surprise this past Friday night at the Protestant Pastor's Dinner when a kind old lady said to me, "I've never heard of Sous Espwa."

I had received an invitation from a colleague, Pastor Herode Guillomettre, who heads up a leadership training institution, to attend this special dinner.  When his note came into my inbox, it read like this:
"Je voudrais par ce mail vous rappeler l'invitation qui vous a été faite à prendre part à la 2ème conférence des Chefs de Missions, Eglises, Organisations/Associations et Ligues de Pasteurs (MEOL) le vendredi 31 octobre de 16 à 19h à l'Hotel Montana." (I would like to remind you by email of the invitation that was made ​​to take part in the second conference of Heads of Missions , Churches, Organizations / Associations and Leagues Pastors ( MEOL ) Friday, October 31, 16 to 19h in Hotel Montana.)

Hotel Montana made the news in 2010 when 100's of foreigners lost their lives when the January 12 earthquake flattened the mountain-top hotel.  Today, it is rebuilt and beautiful again, hosting prestigious events and housing dignitaries when they are here.  This night it would be home to the heads and pastors of missions and churches of Haiti, celebrating their collective work and planning ahead to how they would mark the year spanning the 200th anniversary of Protestantism in Haiti (July 2016) til the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation (October 2017).

The room was elegant, air-conditioned, and everyone in the room was dressed to the nines.  In distinction to most other contexts in Haiti where Creole is spoken, this evening was entirely in French, the language of the educated.  The heads of every major denomination in Haiti were there, as well as leaders of prominent Haitian missions.   It was, as my dad likes to say, an "auspicious occasion."

The program had been planned to start at 4:00 pm (16h) and so I arrived there with another pastor at 4:00.  Rookie mistake.  The doors didn't open until after 4:30 and the program didn't commence for another 40 minutes after that.  From 5:10 straight through til 7:50, we were treated to speeches, songs, future plans, and presentations of ecclesiastical dignitaries.  Through the veil of the French language (a thinner veil for me than  Creole is) I was able to get a sense of a shared identity amoung Protestants in Haiti, and just how small a part of that Sous Espwa is.

Yours truly taking a selfie with Port-au-Prince in the background as I waited for the doors to open.

The Auspicious Occasion with the two white heads of Wallace and Walter

Of the 180-200 people in the room, four of us were white, or in Haiti, "blan."  Three of them were sitting at a table in the center of the room.  Though I was new to Haiti, I had already been to the Baptist Haiti Mission (www.bhm.org) in Fermate and had read about its legendary founding family, the Turnbulls.  Wallace and Eleanor had been in Haiti since 1948 -- 66 years! -- as missionaries.  Legendarily, they had been instrumental in aiding a community of mountain farmers become the nucleus of a national ministry which serves over 350 churches, 350 schools, and 68,000 children.  If you have ever studied Creole, you probably have used the text "Creole Made Easy", written by their son Wally (not to be confused with their other son Walter).  The three blan at the centre table were none other than Wallace, Eleanor, and Walter Turnbull.

Wallace and Eleanor at the Chapel of the Baptist Haiti Mission

After the speeches, it was time for dinner.  As we made our way to the buffet, 90-year-old Eleanor ambled over to me.  Grabbing my arm she spoke the obvious:  "You're the only white person in the room who is not a Turnbull, so I had to find out who you are."  I told her my story, how long we have been here, and who I work for.  Then she said, "I've never heard of Sous Espwa."

I explained to her that she probably never would.  I shared the vision of Sous Espwa with her, that we really don't want to make a name for ourselves but that rather we want to get behind the missions that are already here and help them flourish, with Haitian leadership over the long haul, long after I would be gone.  I told her about our local partners:  MDK (a Christian Leadership Training program), CRECH (a Christian School teacher training program), and SKDE (a church leader and pastor training program).  She had heard of each of them and was enthusiastic about their work.

Then I said, "You know, if Sous Espwa is successful, you might still never hear anything about us, but you would grow to know more about these ministries -- MDK, CRECH, SKDE -- as they grow and flourish.  A sparkle gleamed in the eye of the grizzled missions veteran.  She wrapped her arm around me, smiled a warm smile, and said, "That's perfect!  That's how it should be.  The best thing for the Haitian church is that we North Americans promote the flourishing of local leaders and then fade into the background ourselves.  God bless you in your work."

As she walked away, I felt like God himself had just encouraged me.  I had been encouraged to continue to practice the ministry of small things, of encouragement, of hiddenness, of obscurity, and of celebrating the flourishing and success of others.  I thought about how in just three short months I was learning so much.   I am eager to see what God will continue to do in me in the next 8-1/2 months.  Even more, I am eager to see how the way he is shaping me here in Haiti will prepare me for effective service in the years to come.